Business Price Indexes: September 2017 quarter – Media Release

Overall, producer output prices (the prices producers get for their goods and services) rose 1.0 percent in the September 2017 quarter. Input prices (the costs producers pay) also rose 1.0 percent.

“The drier winter has meant lower-than-usual lake levels for many of the country’s hydroelectric power stations, which pushed up electricity generation costs,” business prices manager Sarah Williams said.

Electricity and gas producers saw their costs of production (input costs) rise 5.9 percent in the latest quarter, mostly due to higher electricity generation costs. In turn, they passed on a 5.3 percent rise in their output prices. Electricity prices paid by commercial businesses rose 6.8 percent in the September 2017 quarter.